As we go about our daily lives, we enter into and are confronted by spaces designed to shape and regulate our behavior, whether we notice it or not. In A wall is just a wall (and nothing more at all), Kapwani Kiwanga explores disciplinary architecture and design by isolating the structural traits and intended psychological effects of different built environments, such as prisons, hospitals, and mental health facilities.

The exhibition brings together recent and newly commissioned works, including the re-staging of the colour and light installation pink-blue, the video work A Primer, and the 2-channel sound installation, 500 ft. For the installation at Esker Foundation, Kiwanga has created several major new sculptural works, based on her ongoing research into institutional architecture and design, and on research on local histories and the architecture of Calgary and Alberta hospitals and psychiatric facilities.

The exhibition title A wall is just a wall (and nothing more at all) is drawn from the poem “Affirmation” by Assata Shakur, a civil rights revolutionary and former member of the Black Liberation Army, which calls for resistance against structures of inequity and the modes of segregation that exist all around us. The works in this exhibition highlight the potential for built environments to predict and affect human behaviour in the subtlest and most forceful of ways.

Kapwani Kiwanga: A wall is just a wall (and nothing more at all) is organized and circulated by The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto. The exhibition is curated by Nabila Abdel Nabi, Assistant Curator, The Power Plant. It was sponsored by TD Bank Group.

Support for the development and production of new works for the exhibition provided by Esker Foundation.

Film SeriesBuilding on concepts explored in the exhibition, Kapwani Kiwanga has curated a program of three videos to accompany the exhibition: Anri Sala’s Dammi i Colori, Gordon Matta-Clark’s City Slivers, and John Smith’s Hackney Marshes – November 4, 1977.

Artist Talk with Kapwani KiwangaSaturday, February 3, 1-2pmIn this talk, artist Kapwani Kiwanga will discuss the research and interests behind her exhibition A wall is just a wall (and nothing more at all). Kiwanga Kiwanga’s work is often rooted in a period of research before bringing these concepts into the studio where they transform into various mediums: video, installation, performance, sound, and sculpture. Kiwanga’s recent work is often centered around historic archives, highlighting stories which have been overlooked or suppressed, and acts which are renegade and resist hegemonic erasure.

Curator’s Talk with Nabila Abdel NabiSunday, February 4, 1-2pmJoin The Power Plant’s Assistant Curator, Nabila Abdel Nabi, as she discusses the exhibition A wall is just a wall (and nothing more at all), which continues Kapwani Kiwanga's engagement with disciplinary architecture and the ways in which we are confronted by spaces which shape and regulate our behavior.

DaveandJenn began their collaborative practice as painters, known for creating multi-layered and detailed resin paintings. The painted imagery in these works float, suspended in between each epoxy layer, so that it can catch the light and create shifting shadows that fall onto the layers below. Their recent sculptural and installation works can be seen as an extension of this painting practice. The interplay between the light, shadows, and reflections within the earlier resin works led to an imaginative exploration of what it would be like to peel apart the epoxy layers and make a painting that someone could walk into.

Paradise for an in-between time brings us back to the forest, a landscape often depicted in their earlier work. However, this forest is a mirage; a heartache; an exercise in resilience; as well as a party for the end of the world. It is filled with light, shadows, and reflections layered together to recreate something that is lost and, perhaps, not yet found.

Art, Science, History and Hearsay: DaveandJenn Artist TalkThursday, February 15, 7-8pmThe world of Calgary-based artists DaveandJenn, Jennifer Saleik and David Foy, merges history with hearsay, mythology with the everyday, and bronze with plastic. The artists will talk about making work in an information age and how their joint practice has evolved over the years from making highly detailed resin paintings to include intricate multi-medium sculptures and now, most recently, installation work.

About Esker FoundationEsker Foundation is a privately funded contemporary art gallery in located in Calgary, Alberta. Esker Foundation connects the public to contemporary art through relevant, accessible, and educational exhibitions, programs, and publications. Esker Foundation reflects on current developments in local, regional, and international culture; creates opportunities for public dialogue; and supports the production of ground-breaking new work, ideas, and research. Founded in 2012 by Jim and Susan Hill, Esker Foundation is a new model for institutional relevance, curatorial focus, and audience engagement. Admission is free.

Esker Foundation provides free public programming created in response to, and in tandem with our current exhibitions. Programs include artist talks, workshops, film screenings, field trips, tours, and family programs. View and download our winter brochure here.

For a digital companion to all the exhibitions, the Esker Foundation App can be downloaded for free at either App Store or Google Play.